Violins
by Xardogn
Summary: A short GX rivalshipping piece I did for a friend, based on a headcanon. What happens when Jaden figures out his rival's secret talent.


"Violins"

"Once in a while

day by day

A strange violinist

comes out to play

He stands and he stares

in nothing but black

play and he plays

until one day

the music

comes back"

It was a strange habit for him. It wasn't every day, but sometimes, when he could spare a few moments of time from his non-existant sleep, he stole away to an abandoned part of campus with a violin case.

Chazz never liked to admit this hobby to anyone, especially after seeing his brothers reactions the first time. Needless to say there was a lot of yelling and…_I promised not to think about it, okay?_

After the school duel he had promised to himself to stop thinking the way Slade and Jagger wanted him to, and started doing things for himself. The violin had lain in his closet, collecting dust, until a few weeks ago, when he'd discovered it again, moving to a different dorm.

Now one side of the campus always heard the sound of a violin echoing, and no one knew where it came from.

"I'm telling you, there it is again!" Syrus complained to his friend. He had told Jaden about the music before, but typical Jaden-style, he had just brushed it off.

"Oh. Huh. Well, Sy, I guess you _weren't _imagining things…." He laughed, scratching the back of his head.

"See? You always think I make this stuff up, and then it turns out to be true. I hope you feel bad." Syrus huffed and left Jaden where he was standing, making his way off to class.

_Ahh, he'll get over it, _he chuckled slightly nervously, to himself. The brown-haired duelist himself should've been heading along to class as well, but to him, the violin music overrode any sort of learning. _Ha! Like I would stay awake anyway._

Jaden scampered off, following the sound. Oddly, it got stronger as he headed towards the Slifer dorm. Well, off to the side, where no one ever really went, since there was nothing there, but still…..as far as he knew, Jaden didn't think there was anyone who lived with them that could play an instrument.

By the time he had reached the "clearing", the music had stopped. _Crap, was I too late? _Jaden froze, listening hard. Sure enough, the music started up again, this time with a much softer, sadder tune.

He pressed on in his quest to find out exactly who the mysterious maestro was when -snap-

Jaden winced and the music stopped.

_Uhhhh, maybe they didn't hear that?_

No luck. A Few seconds later, there was a painful tug to his ears and a familiar raspy voice.

"Just what the hell are you doing here, slacker?"

Wait wait wait wait. Wait a minute.

"Chazz? Is that you?" he asked, confused. His rival wasn't one to take walks in the woods.

"No, its bigfoot." He finally released his grip on Jaden. "Who else do you think it is?"

Jaden turned around looking to make a remark on that when the bow in Chazz's right hand caught his attention.

"Woah there Chazz, I never knew you played the violin!" He laughed. Chazz immediately bristled, trying to hide the bow behind his back.

"You saw and heard nothing, you got that?" There was a serious tone in his voice. _Hmm. I wonder why this is such a big deal._

"Awww come on, that was great! You should totally play more!" Okay, antagonizing wasn't the best way to go, but it was the only way.

Sure enough, Chazz grabbed him by the collar. "Listen punk, you even breathe a word of this to ANYONE, i will personally end you."

_Woah, jeez, overreact much? "_Okay, okay, I won't I promise." He held his hands up in truce.

Chazz stared at him for a few seconds longer, then let go, fuming. Jaden found it funny to imagine little smokestacks rising out of the guy's crazy hair, blowing out angry smoke as he stomped his way back, but whatever…

Like the good friend he was, Jaden followed him.

"Beat it."

"But why don't you want anyone to know about it?" It was a genuine question. While he admittedly was kind of naive, Jaden _knew _something was off with him. He was never this agitated.

"Hello? I have an image to maintain! You realize what would happen if people starting talking about Chazz Princeton playing the violin?"

He had a point there. Chazz set himself up on a pedestal that was hard to get down from. He had the image of being this serious, unapproachable duelist, if not a bit crazy at times. Of course, he knew better then that, but…..their fellow classmates probably would laugh at him. A Chazz crying in the bathroom is not a sight he wanted to see again.

"It's okay man, I get it. You don't want them to know, I won't tell." His voice softened. As he watched, Chazz's fist unclenched and he kept putting the violin away. _Dammit, got to be careful here. I forgot he's sensitive about that…._

There were a few more moments of awkward silence as both of them tried to ignore the rather obvious bonding moment and remain impassive rivals. It did not work very well.

"Hey….Chazz?" He asked tentatively.

His eyes stabbed back, just a little more grey than usual. "What?"

How did he put this… "Hey you mind when you 'don't play the violin', i can come hear and watch?"

"Why would you want to do that?"

"Uh, well, I thought it was really nice! Besides, beats going to class!" He smiled widely at Chazz. A slight blush appeared on the other's face, as he looked away.

"Why the hell would I want you to hear?" More glaring.

"Um….well….uh, if you…don't let me, I'll tell everyone!" There, that should do it. Sometimes the guy had to be nudged into these things.

He, predictibly was furious. "Fine! If you're going to be difficult about it!"

And that was the end of that conversation. Jaden smiled to himself. Mission accomplished.

Okay, even he had to admit, it wasn't so bad. Jaden would come there every so often and watch him play, but he wasn't an obnoxious twerp. Maybe the music calmed him down or something.

After awhile, his secret desires had worn down on him-the reason why he had pretty much started this practice in the first place. It wasn't because he needed it-the Chazz was pretty amazing at everything-but….for once it was just him and the instrument.

It felt wierd enough to have another pair of eyes on him, but for once, it was nice. They weren't judging him. That was the ONE compliment he could bring himself to give. Jaden didn't judge.

So there they were, Jaden pretending he wasn't listening and Chazz pretending he wasn't there, and he kept playing.

It was pretty good.


End file.
